A Chip on my Shoulder
by shootmeshameless
Summary: Alex literally knocks Mitchie off her feet, but will she be able to handle Mitchie's past, present, and future?
1. Chapter 1

1.

Mitchie's POV

"It's hotter than the devil's asshole in here... What the fuck?"

I turned on the AC and sat outside my apartment, waiting for the hot summer air to get out of my car. If school hadn't brought me to California, I would still have been on the cool Oregon coast, able to get in my car and not practically catch fire immediately.

After the car cooled down and I put the address to Sal's in my GPS, I got on the road, ready to go look for a job.

"Turn left in point five miles onto Canby Road and continue until you see Sal's Diner on the left side."

I followed the directions that "Jennifer" gave me and pulled into a lot across the street. In my best effort to be professional, I wore the most uncomfortable slacks on the planet and felt like an idiot. Today though, this idiot would get hired.

"Alex, could you bring table five a number four with no lettuce?"

The sound of Mabel's voice was enough to make me want to die right then and there. Her hoarse drawl bored me half to death as I watched a girl maybe five or six years older than me, arrange a hideous display of what was supposed to be table five's meal.

"Get on it, Miss Russo! We ain't got all day."

"I'm on it May, no need to yell."

"I wouldn't have to yell if you'd- Hold on, we have a customer. This ain't over, kid."

The sloppy, overweight woman walked towards me saying, "What can I do for you, young lady?" and with the biggest smile I could muster, I introduced myself.

"My name is Mitchie Torres and I was just wondering if you were hiring right now."

"I'm sorry honey, we don't have any positions available at the moment, but if you have a resume, we'll call you for an interview if anything opens up."

At that, she turned and looked at the girl making the plate on the back bar.

"Alright, thank you so much. Mabel, was it?"

"You have a nice day, sugar."

As Mabel turned around, I saw the girl in the back rushing to get a meal on a plate. Her brown hair was in her face and her big lips were pursed as she dashed quickly around the counter with the plate. I was so busy staring at her as she dropped the order off at the table and refilled an old couple's coffee that I didn't notice her walking straight towards me. With her eyes to the ground, watching her feet, she ran right into me and knocked me over. Being as oblivious as I have been known to be, I laid there dazed, wondering what was going on.

"What happened?" I asked as I slowly sat up, clutching my pounding skull.

"I sort of ran into you. I guess neither of us were paying much attention to where we were going. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so. I hit my head pretty hard though, but I should be fine."

"Are you sure you don't need any ice or anything? You took a pretty bad spill."

"I'm good. I just need to walk it off or something."

"Alright..."

"I'm sorry for being in the way. Have a good day, okay?" I said while getting up and walking to the door.

She just smiled and went back to work and the second I heard the bell on the door I knew I could finally breathe. The most beautiful girl in the world just knocked me off my feet and all I wanted to do was _walk it off?_ I can be quite the idiot sometimes.

Alex's POV

Never in my life had I felt so stupid.

At the end of my shift I made my way to the break room to grab my coat and clock out.

The heat of this summer was beyond bearable and I was glad I could finally go home and get some sleep in my amazing air-conditioned apartment.

I locked up the door to the diner after counting my tips and made my way to my car. The drive home was always my favorite part of the night. I could put my music up as loud as I wanted and roll my windows down and feel everything I wasn't able to feel during the day. I usually went straight home so I could feed Lucy, but tonight was different. I had fed her right before work and since she's overweight, the vet told me to feed her only once a day. I forgot to get gas before work and had to stop at the gas station to fill my tank.

As I approached the gas station closest to the diner, I saw a blue Mercedes with the hood up and the hazard lights on and slowly pulled up to see if the owner of the vehicle needed help.

To my astonishment, that young lady that I nearly murdered at work today was sitting in the driver's seat with the door open, shivering and staring at her cell phone.

"Do you need help?" I asked.

She peaked out of the car door and squinted, trying to figure out who I was.

"Oh, hey!" she said once I pulled further into the light over the gas pumps, revealing more of my face.

"Hey! You remember me, right?"

"Yeah. It's not that hard to remember someone who attempts to assassinate you!"

"Sorry about that again. So, do you need help?"

"My car overheated... I called the dorms but nobody answered. I think my roommate is at a party again."

"First week of school and they're already partying? Geez, college has changed since I went!"

She giggled at that, her raspy voice cracking a bit.

"Yeah, I guess I could use a ride... Are you sure?"

"Definitely. Lock up and hop in. I promise, I won't try to kill you this time."

We shared a laugh as I stepped out of the car to help her with her things and she locked her doors. We put her things in the trunk and I walked to her side of the car to open her door and she curtsied at the gesture.

Once we were on the road, she gave me directions to the college dorms. We listened to music and talked about nothing in particular as we made our way there, and as we pulled up to a tall, dark building, I almost felt sad that I had to leave her. Thankfully, as we parked and grabbed her things and she offered to make me dinner in exchange for the ride home.

"So, what'll it be?"

"Oh, you really don't have to. I'm really tired actually. I was going to go home soon."

A look of disdain washed over her face and I felt regret for saying I wanted to go home but I knew that I needed to sleep soon if I wanted to enjoy my day off tomorrow.

"Are you sure? You can always stay here after I make you food. You look like you haven't eaten all day, beanpole."

"You sure you wouldn't mind? I have the day off tomorrow and I like to get up early on my days off and do productive things."

"Absolutely! It would be nice to have someone here for a change. We got luck to have a little kitchen in our dorm and my roomy is always gone. It would be nice to cook for two for once!"

"Okay, I'll stay. One condition: It's Saturday tomorrow, so if you don't have class, you have to go do something with me."

"Sounds fair enough to me... I like you, Mitchie. You're sweet."

She smiled a genuine smile, and from that moment on, I was hooked.

All through dinner, I cracked jokes and we got to know eachother a but more through those silly, "get-to-know-me" questions.

"Oh my God, you're _so_ not eighteen!" I said, and at that, she scoffed.

"Do I look like an old lady to you? I mean, I know my hair is getting lighter, but I didn't see any grays this morning!"

"No, I mean, you look... mature."

"And how old are you, Miss Alex?"

"I'm twenty-one."

"You're not that much older than me, so you can't talk shit."

She laughed that cute little laugh again and my stomach turned in a good way.

"Well, at least you're not jail bait."

**AN: Sorry it's so short. I'm new to this whole "writing stories" thing and I'm testing my waters a bit here with this one. I'll post more if I get a good response to this one, so let me know what you like, what you don't like, etc. I'm completely open to critique (that means negative critique too) and I want to become better at this. It's rated T+ because there will be points where it gets hot later on. Anyways, here's the first chapter, so let me know what you think. (:**


	2. Chapter 2

3.

Mitchie's POV

Part of me was nervous and part of me was excited. Alex was the first girl I had talked to other than my roommate and my sociology teacher since I had moved here.

She was funny, she was smart, and not to mention, she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen in my life... So why was she hanging out with such a boring, average college student who didn't know shit about California or anything in it? All I did was play basketball, study, and mooch off of my scholarship money, and here I was, lucky enough to be spending a Friday night with a gorgeous girl who knew so much and supported herself since she was sixteen.

After we finished dinner, she offered to help me with dishes. We listened to music and goofed off, dancing and throwing soap bubbles at eachother while we cleaned up after ourselves.

"Just so you know, Jason quit today to start college, so expect a call from Maybel soon."

"Oh my God, thank you so much. You deserve a reward... So, I just met you, and this is crazy, but it's kind of cold now, sleep by me maybe?"

"Well, I can't argue with someone who hates carrots as much as I do!"

"Oh my gosh, you're such a dork."

I felt so comfortable with Alex. It felt like I had known her all of my life. I let her borrow some pajamas and I changed in the bathroom down the hall while she changed in my dorm room. When I made it back to the room, I opened the door assuming she'd be done changing, but to my surprise, she was just pulling her shirt off and I caught a glimpse of a magnificent tan body, very toned, and a pierced belly button. Her bra was cheetah print and I stood there in awe as I watched her change. I'm not a creeper and I've never been in a relationship with anything but basketball, but this was something on a whole other level. Any normal person would be staring at someone like her with a body like that.

She caught me staring and smiled a wide smile as I blushed and turned around.

"Are you sure you can handle a sleepover with alllllllll of this?" she said, her hands making "this-bitch-has-a-body" motions down her body.

"I'm so sorry for staring. I didn't mean to. I'm so sorry. _So sorry..."_

"No, it's okay. I would have been too if the roles were reversed..."

"So you're into roleplay?" I said jokingly.

"Touche," she said, and at that we both climbed into bed and shut the lamp off.

I laid in bed for a couple of hours, just thinking about how great all of this was. I had good grades, I was so close to getting a job, basketball was going well, and I was sharing a bed with a girl who was so far out of my league, nobody would ever believe that I, Alex Russo, was so lucky.

Alex's POV

_I can't believe she used "Call Me Maybe" as a pick-up line, _I thought.

She was beyond cute, and the points just kept racking up in the back of my mind, where I kept tally of every single thing I was attracted to in this girl. I had fallen asleep almost the moment I hit the sheets, so I wasn't surprised when three hours later I woke up, and a sleepy Mitchie was sprawled all over the bed and parts of my body. I couldn't lie, it was so nice to finally be sleeping by someone again, but at the same time, I barely knew this girl. I didn't believe in love at first sight or anything corny like that, but I was definitely diggin' this girl, so full of passion and drive to get what she wanted out of life. I was almost jealous of her _hope._

After my thought pattern ran like this for a while, I drifted back to sleep.

_"Mitchie, what are you doing? Oh... My God."_

_"Don't worry, I know I've never done this before, but I promise it'll go great!"_

_"I don't know about this, Mitchie..."_

_"Trust me."_

_I watched paralyzed, only able to see her hands moving back and forth on my chest... I had no control of my body, but somehow we were talking to one another._

_"Mitchie... Seriously... What are you- OH FUCK!"_

_That's when I realized that she was performing surgery of some sort._

_I was finally able to move my head around and I lifted it just enough to see Mitchie cutting away at my flesh, pulling and breaking ribs to get to my heart. _

_I saw the muscle pulsating in my chest as she roughly destroyed my innards, and I couldn't do anything but watch and protest verbally._

_"Don't worry. When it's out of there, I'll put it somewhere safe. I promise," she said to me with a not so reassuring smile._

_"Wake up. Wake up. Wake up." I told myself in my dream. I was tired of being in this dream. I couldn't handle it anymore._

Mitchie's POV

Alex was thrashing around in her sleep and I heard her screaming my name, honestly hoping she was having a dirty dream.

After a few minutes of trying to ignore her, I gave up ignoring her and realized that she was having a nightmare, not a sex dream. I shook her as hard as I could and she wouldn't wake up, so I started saying her name loudly and rubbing the sweat off of her forehead.

I could see her fingernails digging into her own body and her skin was covered with scratches, the surface bleeding and broken in some places.

"Alex! Alex, please wake up! I'm worried."

She shot up from her place and looked at me and started crying. I never understood heartbreak until I saw the face of a woman who had just been to and from Hell and had to deal with the fact that it was all in her own head. That had to be the worst kind of pain to deal with: The kind in you make up.

I held her and hummed a lullaby until she calmed down, then made my way to the small kitchen to make chai tea for the two of us to calm down. It was almost a tragic first day of knowing someone. Seeing that look on her face was worse than seeing a child in those "starving Africa" adds.

"Goodnight, Alex... Sweet dreams."

"I don't want to sleep ever again."


	3. Chapter 3

4.

Mitchie's POV

I woke up late Saturday morning with a smile on my face. I only slept a few hours because I was up most of the night taking care of Alex, but it was worth it to have the first thing I saw that morning be her. She laid there with her wavy brown hair in her face and she was smiling sweetly. She had stopped thrashing around at about eight in the morning, and she was now sleeping peacefully. I tried to peel her off of me, her legs intertwined with mine and her hands wrapped tightly around my waist and neck.

I made my way to the bathroom to take a shower. She said she liked to be up early, but it was almost noon by the time I was out of the shower and dressed in my best. I started the coffee and looked over to the bed where she was sound asleep. I dropped a fork to see if she would wake and that's when her lips twitched and she grunted, covering her face with her sleepy arms.

"Why?" she said as she shot up in the bed.

"Oh my God, what time is it?"

"It's twelve. Damn, you were sleeping like a rock. I could have vacuumed and you wouldn't have moved."

She laughed and I walked over to her with a cup.

"Coffee's almost ready Alex. Do your thing!"

"Oh, just because I can pour coffee at work like a boss?"

We both laughed at this and she got up sloppily from the bed and walked over to the coffee pot with heavy steps.

"I can't believe I slept this late... I'm really sorry about last night, Mitchie."

"It's not every time you meet a girl and take her home and she can't stop screaming all night."

I winked as I said this and her face sort of fell as a look of defeat washed over her.

"You'll never understand how much it means to me that you took care of me last night."

Alex's POV

I didn't know what she thought I was dreaming about, but I knew I couldn't tell her. I don't even really know what the dream was about. It almost seemed like there was a reason for me to be scared of Mitchie, but so much of me wanted to just hug her and never let go. I had read somewhere that dreams can mean significant things, but I tried as hard as I could to just ignore the dream and push it out of my head. I wanted to know this girl and spend time with her.

"Seriously, thank you."

"No worries. Like I said, I don't mind. I'd do it every night if I could."

"I like you, kid."

"I'm not a goat!"

We shared a laugh and her eyes that moment seemed so full of happiness that I decided I wouldn't let the nightmare ruin the rest of the day she promised to spend with me.

"Okay then, Mitchie, what would you like to do today?"

"I don't know. Any ideas?"

"Well, what do you usually do on your days off school?"

"Basketball. I'm always playing or studying. I really never take a day off. Let's do something fun."

"Hmmm..."

I guess I made a face because at that moment she walked over to me and kissed me on the cheek.

It wasn't what I was expecting. I hadn't really told her I was gay because I don't want to lose friends when we get along so well after just one day.

I blushed when she kissed my cheek and she walked over to make her bed.

"Is someone blushing?" she asked.

"Maybe a little bit."

"I knew it!" she exclaimed.

"Knew what?"

"You like me."

"I told you I liked hanging out with you."

"No, but you _like me."_

"... That easy to tell?"

"Duh. You're so obvious. I just had to see for sure."

"Well, I'm sorry if that makes you uncomfortable. I should have just told you I was gay."

"Don't worry about it. It's 2012, it's not a big deal."

"Are you sure? I mean, I've lost friends because of it before so if it makes you feel weird, I'm so sorry I didn't tell you."

"No. I wish my ex girlfriend was as fun as you to mess with."

"... Oh my God. I totally should have guessed! You bitch!"

"Don't worry, I like you too. Like... Like."

"That makes me happy. Stranger danger though, so I'm still going to keep my eye on you."

"Stranger danger, my ass! I just took care of you all night in my bed. I know everything I need to know about you."

"Was I talking in my sleep?"

"Saying my name. That's all that matters."

_If only she knew why..._


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey y'all. So, my friend Mariah decided to write a song that went along with my story idea back in August when I pitched the full idea. She said she liked the concept and only laughed a little bit when I finally told her that it was a fanfic. Keep reviewing and know that I will be updating a BUNCH and OFTEN because I really like where I'm going with this. Anyways, here's a link to that song she wrote about it: ** /TK76CoxtYeU

Alex's POV

Mitchie let me take a shower and get ready after she made breakfast for us. While she was making breakfast, we decided that we'd go to Disneyland since she was new to L.A. and had never been there.

On our way, we stopped for sunscreen and the regular Disneyland necessities.

"Okay, so I need like... A thousand SPF because I burn like toast."

"Well, grab your shit and check out because I'm about to take you to the place where dreams come true!"

"Oh really?"

"Duh."

_"The place where dreams come true..." _

_I hope not._

We pulled into the parking lot and there were hundreds of people waiting in line. Some of them were obvious tourists, wearing DIsneyland shirts and tie-dye shirts saying things like, "California" and "I heart Cali." I shook my head as we waited and Mitchie looked at me with a curious expression.

"What?"

"Why are you shaking your head, Lex?"

"Oh. Well, you can usually tell when someone's not from around here because they're _really_ excited to be here. I mean, L.A. is great, and Anaheim is great, but it really isn't anywhere to get super excited about. Disneyland on the other hand..."

"Oh, that makes sense. Well, I'm hella excited!"

"You said 'hella.' You're basically already from here then," I said and she laughed.

"Okay, line, let's move along please. I'm losing my virginity today and I'd really like it to happen a little faster..."

"Don't say that out loud. Nobody needs to know about that, _sweetheart_."

After about half an hour, we were finally at the bag check. The security guards checked our bags and we made our way to the area where you can rent lockers to put your stuff in. We put everything but our cameras in the lockers and I dragged her to the Space Mountain line.

Since we got there later in the day, the lines were already really long, but we didn't mind waiting; it only gave us more time to talk.

"This line is crazy. No wonder my family never came here when I was little."

"For real. When you're little, it seems like _forever _waiting in these things."

The sign by the velvet rope said _30 Minute Wait._

We made small talk the entire time, covering everything from favorite colors to pet peeves.

"So what are you doing in college?" I asked.

"Well, I have a basketball scholarship but I'm pre-med right now."

"...Oh."

That news scared the living daylights out of me, as it would anyone who was having the dreams I was.

"That's awesome. No wonder you're always studying!" I said, to save my ass from sounding unhappy for her a moment ago.

"Seriously!"

Mitchie's POV

"So what's the deal with working at Sal's? Is that your only job or...?"

"Oh, no. I also compose music for an indie film company. I don't do it often, but every once in a while a film will come up that hasn't been scored yet and they call me first and I usually get paid pretty well."

"That's amazing. So you make music, you can pour coffee like a boss... Is there anything you _can't _do?"

She laughed at me nervously and playfully retorted.

"Whoah, bitch, calm your tits.-Just kidding. But yes. I love making music, and Sal's isn't my dream job, but it gets the bills paid. The tips really save me most of the time. It's the fake southern accent that really gets 'em."

At this point, Alex and I were about to be getting on the ride. We were set to be on the next car of "rockets."

"I'm so freakin' excited! This is going to be so much fun! Thank you so much!" I said.

"Right?"

I grabbed her hand and squeezed it as a little token of appreciation and the excitement began to show in my face. I couldn't wipe the childish grin off of my face, and Alex was smiling just as much as I was.

We boarded the ride and pulled down the safety bars and buckled our belts.

She was basically crushing my hand in anticipation and I didn't mind one bit. The more she touched me, the happier I was.

"Wooo! Let's GO!"

"YES!" she screamed!

The ride started.

I felt as if it was just Alex and I on the ride as the coaster descended into a pitch black area full of nothing but the most beautiful "stars" and I could feel nothing but the butterflies in my stomach, the wind on my face, and the soft hands of a beautiful stranger.

"That was amazing! Can we please go again?" I asked.

"Sure thing. But we have to go on Indiana Jones first."

"Please?"

"No dice, babydoll, you have to go on this one during the day time! It's badass!"

"Okay, but I'm dragging your ass back here."

"Sounds good."

Indiana Jones went about the same. We screamed happily, broke one another's hands, and those butterflies just never went away, in line or on the ride.

After we went back to Space Mountain and rode a few more rides, I was hungry and so was Alex.

We shared a funnel cake with the works. Strawberries, chocolate, powdered sugar... Everything else we could think of. It was almost as sweet as what I imagined Alex's lips would taste like. I knew the moment I met her that something was special about her.

After we ate the funnel cake, we went to the gift shop to get the classic Mickey hats. I wanted a Halloween themed hat and Alex wanted one that had hot pink ears. By the time we got to the counter, our arms were completely full of Disney memorabilia.

"Put it all on the counter," Alex said.

"But then our stuff will get all mixed up..."

"It doesn't matter. I'm paying for it anyways. Duh."

"No you aren't! You can't. That's too much."

"No, trust me, royalties are sweet in the indie film business with all the hipsters rolling around these days, buying our movies."

We both laughed and I declined her request to pay for everything so she grabbed it all out of my arms and put it on the counter and paid for everything before I could pull my wallet out.

"I hate you."

"That's okay. At least you can say you've had a childhood now."

We laughed again as we made our way to the bathrooms to dawn ourselves in our new apparel.

"Oh my God!" Alex said through the stalls.

"What? What's wrong?"

She snickered in the stalls a silly little laugh.

"I look so dumb. Whatever. It's Disneyland. Everyone does."

"Let's look stupid together."

"Fair deal."

We walked around for a while and just took pictures with all of the characters until the fireworks were about a half hour from starting up.

Hand in hand, we walked to the little buffet area and ordered the cheapest food we could and sat outside at a small table to watch the fireworks. Beautiful colors erupted in the sky, illuminating the ground and everything on the ground. The shadows danced across Alex's face and she looked over at me only to smile a little cute smile.

I knew at that exact moment that my first impression of her was right: she is so special.

I had known her a day total and the nerves never let off, my hands were sweating the entire day, and everything I used to think about myself was being questioned.

Alex's POV

During the fireworks, Mitchie was staring at me and I looked over and smiled at her. Her hands were warm in mine and she was shaking a bit, so I only smiled wider.

After the show was over, she started yawning and I was feeling pretty tired too.

"So what do you say we call it a night? I'm pretty tired and you're looking a bit worn out too."

"Sounds good to me. I just want to crawl into my comfy, freezing bed and sleep like a rock on my last day off of school for the week!"

"Okay Mitch."

We made our way to the lockers and grabbed our things and waited in line for bag check once more.

After bag check gave us the okay, we walked half a mile to the car. We were even more tired by then, but we put everything we bought in the back seat and I got in and started the car.

An hour or so of driving in heavy traffic listening to music and sitting there without speaking once, and we were back at her dorms.

"I'll help you with your stuff, Mitch."

"You called me 'Mitch.' That was cute."

"I try."

We got to her door and she unlocked her door. I helped her bring everything into the room and her roommate had left a note on the door that she would be gone for one more night. After we dropped everything on the floor between the bed and the small kitchenette, she walked me to her door. I didn't want to stay over and I explained that, only because I had to finish up a score for this new horror movie.

I was expecting her just to say goodbye and wave cutely, but she grabbed my hand the second I was out the door.

"Thank you for today."

"Oh, you're very welcome, Miss Mitchie."

"No. I mean it. You're amazing."

"I know, right?"

"I'm serious! You're the most beautiful, sweet, funny, smart girl I've ever met. I don't care if I've only known you for a day-"

"-Technically you met me yesterday."

"Okay, so I guess _two days_. But my point is..."

That was when she moved her hands from mine and placed them around the back of my neck. She leaned in, as did I, and she kissed me. I kissed back with everything I had. The kiss was sweet and it was short, but it was passionate. For the first time in my life, I was nervous and as she moved her hands from behind my neck and placed them at her sides, she just stared at me.

"Best. First. Date. Ever." was all she said, and she closed the door.

I made it home within twenty minutes since traffic had died down a bit. Once I got home, I fed Lucy since it was only 7:30 at night. She was so excited to see me that she knocked a bag out of my hand and jumped on my bed, spinning in circles and making cute playful growling and squeaking sounds.

It wasn't hard to fall asleep that night, but staying asleep was a whole different topic.

_Once again, I couldn't move. I saw Mitchie's hands moving rapidly on my chest as I felt absolutely nothing, once again paralyzed by the girl. _

_"Why are you doing this to me, Mitchie? I thought you liked me? I thought we were good together!" I shouted, and she only looked at me with a smile._

_"Don't worry. You're always worrying. Stop that. It's not worth your time. The only thing that's worth your time right now is getting this thing out of you and getting you all better."_

_"What's wrong with me?"_

_"It's broken."_

_"What?"_

_At that moment, she pulled my heart out of my chest once again, however this time, she had been clawing at my chest with her bare hands instead of using a scalpel. She lifted it so that I could see it, and she was right._

_There were arteries missing and it wasn't beating at all. It wasn't attached to me anymore and my feeling slowly began to come back. I started being able to move my head first. Then my arms and legs, and soon I was sitting up, facing Mitchie._

_"Isn't that all better?"_

_"I don't know."_

_"So that's a yes?"_

_"Why is it a yes if I don't know?"_

_"Because that means you aren't feeling any pain."_

_"I'm not really feeling anything but my limbs right now."_

_"And that's why it's going to make things so much easier for me."_

_"What do you mea-"_

_I saw myself being put under anesthesia of some sort by Mitchie._

_It all happened so fast that I had no idea what was going on. All I knew was that I was in my body and seeing from my body's perspective one second and the next, I was above my body, watching Mitchie put my heart back in my chest with animal-like speed and a lack of accuracy._

_"Goodnight, sweety."_

_I saw nothing._

_I heard nothing._

_I felt nothing._

_I was nothing._

_Then came the sound of a flat line..._


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone. Sorry it took so long to publish this one. I've been so busy with work and school that I haven't had much time to fix my computer. But we're all good now and I've got everything fixed on it, so I should be back to updating at least once a week. I hope you like this chapter. I know it's not very long, but the end is sort of what's going to fuel a lot of Mitchie's back story, so it's essential that it's all there. If there's anything you guys want to suggest in regards with where I take this story later on, leave a review/comment. I'd love to hear what you guys think. As for some of you saying that the kiss was a little fast, I have to say that I agree entirely, but once again, it's something that sort of will explain a lot about Mitchie's character as an individual and why she is the way she is. Thanks for the support everyone. (:**

Alex's POV

My alarm was blaring at the level of a foghorn.  
Lucy was barking at it as my arm swung towards it to turn it off. The sun was shining through my curtains as I groggily wiped my eyes, sitting up to wake myself a bit. I walked over to the coffee maker and started up a pot. As the coffee was brewing, I made my bed and fed Lucy so she'd calm down.

I noticed that the notification light on my phone was blinking, so I unlocked it and laughed as I typed in my password. "99problems" was my password, and after I unlocked my phone, I saw five messages from Mitchie.

_Mitchie: I had so much fun with you yesterday. You're awesome._

_Mitchie: And cute._

_Mitchie: I hope I don't wake you up with all these texts. I just couldn't sleep so I woke up early to say goodmorning._

_Mitchie: I hope you have a good day. Text me when you're up._

_Mitchie: I had the weirdest dream last night too. It was about you, so call me when you're up and I'll tell you about it, because it was seriously crazy!_

I didn't want to message her back immediately, so I took a shower and got ready for the day.

I decided to call her while I was walking to get a bagel.

"Hey there, pretty lady!" she screamed into the phone.

"Uhh. Hey? Excited much?"

"Just a little."

"So what's up?"

"I wanted to tell you about my dream, but I wanted to do it in person because it was seriously insane."

"What happened?"

"Like I said, I want to tell you in person. I'm not doing anything today if you want to stop by for a little bit."

I hesitated, thinking about my nightmare last night.

"You don't have to if you don't want to... I mean, you could be busy and I'd rather not intrude if you are."

"No, I'll be over in about half an hour, okay?"

"Alright!"

"Oh, do you want a begal or anything?"

"Uhh... Nah, I'm good."

"Okay. See you soon."

With that, I hung up and went inside Manhattan Bagel and placed my usual order of an everything bagel with cheese and a blended chai latte.

When my order was ready, I made my way past a few people and went to my car. On the way over, I had my stereo turned off so I could think...

_What was that dream about? Why is she being so weird and clingy?_

I approached her door and she opened it after one knock.

She pulled the sides of my shirt, reeling me in for a kiss.

The kiss only lasted a moment as she pushed me back to look at me.

"Hello beautiful!" she said enthusiastically.

"Hey..." I was hesitant and she picked up on in.

"Okay, you must not have slept well last night either..."

"Not really."

"Why?"

"Dreams."

"Me too. I'll tell you about it."

Mitchie's POV

_I was in a room that looked like a hospital. _

_Bright lights were everywhere and I looked around me and saw doctors and nurses hurrying by and out a swinging door. I looked at myself and I was wearing a scrubs and a doctor approached me asking me if I was ready to perform surgery as he tugged on my shirt and handed me an apron._

_He pulled me into a dark room with what light there was in the room reflecting off of the metal tables and trays._

_He handed me something and the light switched on in slow motion._

_It took a second for my eyes to adjust, but once I realized what was in my hand and what was in front of me, I knew I had to stop adjusting and just do something. Anything..._

_Alex was writhing on the table, begging to feel no pain. She was screaming and crying and her whole body moved with urgency, as if a fire were burning inside of her._

_"I CANNOT HANDLE THIS RIGHT NOW! IT'S FUCKING KILLING ME."_

_I looked in my hands and noticed a scalpal... In a panic, I dropped the scalpal and began digging furiously into Alex's chest, pulling up flesh and a rib bone or two to get to her heart._

_"Why are you doing this to me, Mitchie? I thought you liked me? I thought we were good together!" She screamed. I smiled, trying my best to console her._

_"Don't worry. You're always worrying. Stop that. It's not worth your time. The only thing that's worth your time right now is getting this thing out of you and getting you all better."_

_"What's wrong with me?"_

_"It's broken."_

_"What?"_

_I pulled her heart out of the socket and lifted it so she could see what I was talking about. A small, cracked heart, missing valves and arteries was lifeless in my hands. She slowly started to realize that she was still alive and okay and she sat up in a slow, tired manner._

_"Isn't that all better?" I asked._

_"I don't know."_

_"So that's a yes?" I just wanted her to understand without me having to tell her why._

_"Why is it a yes if I don't know?"_

_"Because that means you aren't feeling any pain."_

_"I'm not really feeling anything but my limbs right now."_

_"And that's why it's going to make things so much easier for me."_

_"What do you mea-"_

_I pulled the anesthesia up to her mouth and she began to fall asleep._

_I felt like it was best to put her heart back at this point, but with all the right things attached. It took me no time at all to put her back together, and as the slow and steady beeping came to a drawl, I felt happy. I finally helped her stop hurting. I could see it in her eyes that she was hurting. I knew she was. I had to help, even if I had no idea what I was doing. SOMEONE had to help._

_"Goodnight, sweety."_

Alex's POV

"... Wow."

"Isn't that crazy? I didn't really want to think about it today, but it's been killing me. I'm sorry if that's creepy, but I thought you deserved to know."

"No... That's not creepy, it's just freaky."

"Why?"

"I had the same dream."

"What the fuck?"

"Yeah... That's why I was weird on the phone earlier."

"Oh my God... I don't even... What the hell?"

"That's what I'm sayin'."

She looked at me for a second before starting to laugh hysterically.

After a few minutes of insane laughter, she looked back up at me and quickly understood that I was confused as I could be.

"Oh my God... What if we're telekinetic or something?"

"What?"

"What if we can share thoughts!"

"That's... Telepathy... Genius."

She laughed even louder and with more power behind her.

"OH MY GOD. WHATEVER."

"I'm really not seeing how this is funny."

Part of me wanted to laugh at her, but the other part was just straight up lost.

"Lex, I'm sorry I'm laughing but... What do you think it means?"

"I don't know... I just don't know what to think. What if it means you're going to hurt me?"

"No... I wouldn't do that. I know you're different and I couldn't let someone different go or be hurt."

"How do you know that I'm different? This is the third day you've even known me."

"I just... I know."

She paused for a while, like she was second guessing what she'd just said.

She said one thing but her eyes were showing a lot more. She was scared. What if I _wasn't _different? What if I was just like the rest of the people she'd met? I wanted to believe her, but it was hard when I could tell that she didn't even believe herself.

After a few minutes of tense and awkward silence, she looked up and she opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but then stopped and looked at the ground.

"What were you going to say?"

"No. Nevermind, it's stupid."

"Spit it out, Mitch."

"Okay... Well, I was just thinking, maybe I just really want to believe that you're different. I've never had such a quick connection with someone before. You've been so kind and so honest and I just really want to believe that you mean it all."

"Oh."

There was another moment of silence until she shifted a little bit.

"I just like... Unloaded some stupid emotional bullshit on you and you just say 'oh' and call it good? Seriously Lexie?"

"I don't know what else to say. I really like you and all, but I feel like you're letting yourself get ahead a bit too fast. It feels like you're taking the last two days and stretching them out over months. It's like you have this idea of what you think this is in your head, and it hasn't even been long enough to form that. You can't just tell me you think I'm different than everyone else because I'm nice... There's so much you don't know about me and there's so much I don't know about you. Don't count me as a definite right now. Anything could happen. I could tell you something and you could be completely done 'getting to know' me."

"You really feel like that? Like it's just my 'fresh from high school' hormones or something, making me think we were getting along pretty well? We had the same fucking dream even. I don't think we'd be so comfortable with eachother as fast as we have been, if I wasn't meant to meet you. I want to believe that you're different because I've honestly never met someone and been attracted to them this way. So yeah, this is going to be like... A big thing."

I thought about everything I wanted to say to her and nothing came up.

I grabbed my bag and I stood up. She grabbed my hand, turning me around.

"So now you're leaving?"

"I was going to go get some air. I don't even know why we're arguing right now. Three days and we're practically arguing like married people about shit that shouldn't even be an issue. I just don't want you to get your hopes up this early. I've had a lot of shit happen to me and I'm sure you've had your share. Let's just keep things slow for a while. Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

"Okay. Fine. Go outside. Get your air. But don't leave. Please don't leave yet."

"Okay."

I went out on the fire escape and pulled my phone out of the bag, checking my text messages. Nothing. Mitchie and my dog, Lucy, were the only living things I'd encountered outside of everyday errands and work. I had never felt so stupid.

Mitchie's POV

I saw Alex pull out her phone through the sliding door to the fire escape. She looked so bored.

_Hey. You are workin' that catwalk honey!_

_Oh my gosh, are you serious? _

_Calm down. I'm kidding. You look upset, so I thought I'd crack a joke or two... Sorry?_

_No, it's fine. I'm just like... I'm just realizing how boring my life is. Haha_

_Oh..._

_Yeah. Nobody has texted me all day. You and my dog are like... The only people I've even talked to other than Mabel at work in like... A week._

_Hahaha. You're so lame. Come back inside when you're ready. Tea?_

_Sure thing._

She came back inside about five minutes later.

"So I've been thinking... I don't want to rush this. That's not to say, I don't mind hanging out, and the occasional kiss, but let's keep it down a bit and not get too 'deep' with the 'feelings' and dream talks yet, okay?"

"Sounds fair to me."

I laughed. It really did sound like a good idea to me. The only thing is, since I first saw her, I wanted to kiss her and talk to her about everything. It makes it hard not to like someone a lot when the first thing you think of when you meet them, or pummel them in my case, is _'Dang. I'd like to _get to know _her...'_


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey everyone, I know. I suck! I said I'd be done a lot faster than I got done and I'm so sorry about that! I meant to update a lot sooner, but a lot of things came up with my family and I had a breakup and I felt extremely uninspired. I also haven't paid my internet bill in a while. Anyways, here's a new chapter, and I'll keep trying my best to stay up on this story because I feel like I have some really good ideas that I want to put into action.**

**Make sure to review. (:**

**-Sms**

Alex's POV

The rest of that day with Mitchie was really good. I'd felt bad for going off on her, so I wanted to take her out and do something special for her.

After the argument, we'd been drinking tea and listening to the new Florence and the Machine album while forcing awkward and idle chit-chat when I had an idea.

"Want to know a secret?" I said between songs.

"... Sure?"

She looked like she was scared, so I let out a small laugh because it wasn't a huge deal.

"Why are you laughing at me?"

"Because you look terrified Mitch."

"Oh, well after earlier, I just assumed it was going to be bad news or something."

She let out a giggle.

"_Anyways..._ I never told you this, but I like to take pictures. Actually, it's sort of my second job."

"Oh, cool."

"I was going to ask if you'd let me take pictures of you. I know you don't have school today, so I thought it would be fun to just go find a place to go and just take pictures."

As she thought it over, her face changed from happy to inquisitive, and then she smirked as if she was thinking something ridiculous.

"...What _kind_ of pictures, Lex?"

"Oh come on! It's been three days, I'm not going to just up right ask you to let me take nudes. Jesus."

She burst out with laughter, lines forming around her eyes and her face going red.

"I know, I know. It was just a funny thought, calm your tits."

"The things you kids say these days."

"Hey, whoa. '_Kids'_ is not the term I'd be using to describe someone you were kissing earlier."

At that, we both looked at one another, attempting to have serious facial expressions but ultimately losing our shit in a fit of laughter.

"Oh. My. God. SERIOUSLY."

Mitchie's POV

Part of me wasn't kidding when I asked what kind of pictures she wanted to take.

As we were laughing about my silly question, I was thinking about how fun it would be to be a part of something that Alex was passionate about.

The other part of me was thinking about how terrible and scary it would be to be in front of a camera, especially if she'd actually done photography professionally and was used to real models who knew what they were doing. That thought alone scared the living shit out of me, and I quickly had to shove it out of my head.

"So, when did you want to do this 'photoshoot' and where?"

"Well, I thought we could just drive around for a bit and find somewhere that looked nice. I mean, you already look fit for modeling, so I'd say let's just bounce!"

She sounded so enthusiastic that I had to shove my fear to the back of my mind and just focus on what she wanted. It might have only been a few days that I'd known her, but she captivated me in ways that I couldn't even understand. I was already willing to do whatever I had to do to be close to her, to get her to trust me.

"Okay, I'm down. Grab your keys and we can go."

With that, we grabbed our things and I locked up and we made our way to her car.

"Your car is filthy."

"Bitch, I know."

Once we were in the car, it was nearly silent. We drove around listening to her _Songs I Want to Fuck To_ playlist, (appropriate, I know,) and after almost every song on the playlist had played, we stopped at a gas station. It had been about an hour that we were in the car, so I decided to get out and stretch my legs.

"When was the last time you washed your car? It looks like you drove through a wall of mud or something. And how did you even find this much mud or dirt in L.A.? I didn't even know we had dirt in L.A."

She laughed at me and responded with, "Well, I like to take little trips sometimes. I took a ten hour trip to get some landscapes shot last week. I guess you saw my car in the dark and didn't notice the dirt the last couple of nights. There are some really woodsy places north, like in Redding and Mt. Shasta that have great views."

"That's awesome. Anything fun to do up there?"

"Not unless you like to hike or swim, or in my case, take pictures of trees and lakes and rocks."

"And when we find somewhere to shoot, hot babes."

"Oh yeah, those too."

She winked and I blushed and as we were driving along, she slammed on the brakes.

"OH MY GOD, WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR?" I exclaimed, petrified.

"I found the spot. Holy shit, it's perfect."

Alex's POV

We had been driving east for about an hour or so when I saw the place I wanted to take pictures.

There was this flat, dry, desert looking area and I knew that I wanted to do a really raw scene with little to no detail that would be able to draw from focus on Mitchie.

I wanted her to be the focal point, so a huge desert looking area with nothing but wind and dirt seemed perfect.

I parked the car and ran around to open the door for Mitchie.

"Someone's eager!" she said.

"I am. I'm excited, excuse me!"

We both chuckled a bit as I grabbed my camera and tripod from the back seat.

"Okay, so I'm going to just have you walk out there about ten feet."

She nodded and walked right where I asked her to, me pointing until I excitedly threw up a thumbs up sign at her and she stayed put.

"Okay, so just... Do whatever you want. I want you to be the focus, so be yourself, and do whatever you think would translate well."

"...I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Trust me, you are model material, so don't be so nervous. I've shot with a few girls who did this for a living, and they didn't look half as good as you do right now."

"What ever happened to 'let's take this slow,' Mitch?" she said, amused.

"Oh, shut up. You know I don't mean it like that. I mean, you're hot, and I really want to kiss you right now, but I meant that from a professional perspective."

"I know, I know, relax. It was a joke."

It was awkward and quiet for a minute after that, so I started just taking pictures of her being goofy, so that she could relax a little bit in front of the camera.

"So if you want to kiss me, why don't you come do it?" she asked after wiping a puzzled look off of her face.

"I told you, I wanted to take it slow. I mean, let's just have fun."

"Kissing is fun. These pictures are fun. Take pictures of us kissing."

"That is so unprofessional!" I joked, and as I was changing the settings on my camera to better suit the light, she walked up to me, put her hand on my stomach and hugged me from behind.

Mitchie's POV

When I went and hugged Alex from behind, it was only because she was doing something with the camera and I was hoping to catch a glimpse of some of the pictures she'd taken already, but she was messing with some settings or something, so I just stayed there.

"Can I see some of them?"

"Not yet! I have to edit them and see how they print out and stuff like that. I'm picky with this type of stuff."

"Can I take some of you?"

"But I'm the photographer here!" I said jokingly as she lightly punched me in the arm.

"Oh, come on! You just took a million pictures of me looking like a dumbass. Let me take some of you, being all beautiful and cute. Maybe my blog will take a liking to you." I winked, hoping it would convince her, and to my complete and utter surprise, it did.

"Okay, but just a few. And I swear, I'm deleting the ones I don't look good in."

I started taking pictures of her, with her hair in her face and her hands in her pockets. It looked like a scene in a movie, but I started thinking that it was missing something.

"I'm gonna delete some of these and come fix your hair in a second. It's covering your face in most of these."

Alex had absolutely not idea what I was up to and I liked that I was about to surprise her.

I fiddled with the camera and figured out to set up a timer on it that would take ten pictures in a row.

I ran up to Alex and she seemed like she was being all business about herself being in front of the camera, standing there like I'd seen model after model do when I used to watch America's Next Top Model. She stood there awkwardly, letting me fix her hair, tucking it behind her ear on one side as she stared at the ground, staying silent.

Then she looked up at me slowly and I swear in that moment, I was baffled. Her eyes were so big and her lips looked so soft. The tension between us wasn't a bad tension, it was the kind of feeling where nobody knows what the other is going to do, so neither do anything.

I decided to break the awkward staredown by kissing her. Before I knew it, she was kissing me back, and this kiss was much more intense than the other one we'd shared. I had my hands on the arch of her back, and hers were now around my neck, lightly clawing at my hair, pulling me closer, keeping me in.

Alex's POV

After our little make-out session, Mitchie and I packed everything up, deciding that we had taken enough good pictures to be satisfied.

It was getting late and I hadn't fed Lucy or walked her the entire day, so I decided to drop Mitchie off on my way home. When we got to her dorms, she gave me a quick kiss on the lips and walked up the walkway to the front door of the dorm complex. I put in a different CD and drove home.

Once I got home, I decided that I should take Lucy for a quick walk around the neighborhood and afterwards, I fed her and decided to start editing the pictures from earlier.

When I put my memory card in my laptop, I saw a series of pictures that I wasn't expecting.

The pictures I'd taken of Mitch were breathtaking. She could have been a model if she wanted to be. She was so naturally beautiful, and even when she was a nervous wreck in front of a camera, she managed to show a side of humanity that so many people choose to ignore when they're being photographed or filmed.

The pictures of me were okay, but since Mitch didn't know how to use my camera well, some of them were blurry or off angle.

Then there were the pictures I wasn't expecting. Mitchie had her hand on the side of my face, tucking some of my hair behind my ear, as I was looking down. She was looking at me like she'd never seen me in her life, like I was something new or someone new to her, and it was really sweet. In all of the pictures, I felt this sense of warmth, radiating from her and I together in the photos. The pictures just felt right. In the later pictures, her hands were around my back and waist, and mine around her neck, and even though I didn't know we were being captured, we looked like we were two people in love, on a vacation or something. We looked great together. She looked so sweet in her pictures, and together, we looked even sweeter.

I had this feeling in my gut that didn't let me rest that night. After I'd gone through every single picture on my memory card, I'd just been awestruck.

Everything about her blew my mind. She was so fun. Even after arguing, we got along. She still talked to me like she had before we had fought, but the way she looked at me was... different.

In such a short amount of time, she had gone from looking at me with lustful eyes, to looking at me with warmth and caring.

I'd never felt anything like what I felt when I was looking at the pictures and it was scaring me.

I'd never been the person who believed in relationships or love or that draw that people always talked about. I'd never understood why people are so desperate to be with someone until now.

I had wanted to take it slow, but everything in me wanted to run over to her and thank her for surprising me with the pictures.

Everything in me wanted to kiss her, to touch her, to tell her how beautiful she was.

Three days was all it took to make me homesick... Homesick not for a place, but for a person.

Three days was all it took for me to scare myself out of talking to her, being around her, knowing her...

Three days was all it took for me to ruin everything.

I dozed off into a deep and vivid dream.

_"Babe, do you know if we have any milk left?" Mitchie asked from the kitchen of our small townhouse._

_"I don't know. I thought we had a little bit, but I guess we might have to go to the store later."_

_"Okay, well, I have to take a shower. Can you feed Caleb?"_

_"Yeah, no problem."_

_She walked into our bedroom and tickled Caleb's little feet._

_"He's getting so big. My God, Alex, he's growing so fast."_

_"I know, and handsome too."_

_She kissed me quickly and walked into the master bathroom with her towel and her robe._

_Caleb started crying and I rushed to calm him down._

_"Shhhh, baby boy, it's okay. Mommy's just taking a shower, she'll be back. Are you hungry bud?"_

_I made him a bottle as I rocked him gently in one arm, ceasing his screams._

_"Here you go, little guy," I said in baby talk._

_His brown eyes shot up at me, and he began screaming. I set him in his crib and knocked on the door to the bathroom, asking if Alex would be out soon so she could see if she could calm down our baby boy._

_"Alex!"_

_No response._

_"ALEX! Seriously?"_

_Still nothing._

_In a panic, I opened the door and all over the floor was blood. On the vanity counter, there was a piece of paper._

_ Alex,_ _I don't expect you to understand. This isn't what I wanted. You weren't what I wanted. I didn't want to be this person. I don't know what else to do. I loved you once, but you've changed, and so have I. I can't do this anymore. I can't live knowing what I did to you and Caleb. Goodbye. I'm so sorry._ _XOXO Mitchie_


	7. SUPER SAD UPDATE ):

Okay.

I know I was writing "A Chip on my Shoulder" and you guys were liking it for the most part. I had written out about 12 chapters worth on my Evernote account and then my computer crashed. When I logged back into my Evernote, it kept telling me that my account didn't exist, so I just lost all of my chapters. Even my phone can't find them, and that was my backup.

So, I'll be honest, I've completely lost interest in the story after attempting to re-write the chapters that I lost. I'm really sorry about that, but I think I'll start a new story instead of trying to remember the rest of the last one. I know that's a bit of a dick move, but after I'd written so many chapters, the excitement to release them was killing me. I was really stoked to share them with you all and now I just really don't want to try to recreate them. It was hard enough to follow my brain when I wrote the story the first time, and this time, trying to remember what happened is pointless. I can't even remember which one was older. I'm super scattered and slopped on what the original ending was going to be and how I was going to get there.

I'm really sorry to those of you who liked the story and were waiting for more. Hopefully the new story I'm writing peeks your interest and makes up for it. It won't be as mystery-full as the last one, but I'll try my best to keep you all satisfied. The first 5 chapters of the next story are going to be pre-written. After that, I want your input on what you think should happen. I want to make this an interactive story, where the readers (well, most of the readers) have say in what happens to the characters.

So, look out for that new story, and once again, I'm so sorry about not finishing it. I love you guys and thank you so much for being such awesome readers!

xoxo

-Sms.


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